Brief podcast: “4 Minutes on Food and Farming”

I recently read
a
story in Civil Eats about the state of Florida’s battle with Citrus
Greening disease. It’s a tree killer, spread by a bug called the Asian citrus
psyllid. Florida’s battle highlights the wicked problems created by
monoculture. Monoculture
simply means the mass planting or raising of one genetically identical species,
plant or animal. A monoculture produces lots of affordable human food, but also
creates a haven for pests and disease.

Citrus greening
is decimating the nearly 500,000 acres of Florida oranges. Grower concern has sparked
the spraying of a medically important antibiotic called oxytetracycline. Beside
pneumonia and other serious infections, this important drug is used to treat
the ubiquitous STD chlamydia. The widespread use of antibiotics in
agriculture is risky business, speeding development of resistant killer
bacteria. Public health officials have been ringing the alarm bells about this for
years.

But how will we stop this destructive disease?

Advocates of CRISPR, the latest
form of gene modification, argue this is a perfect place to employ their
technology. They say scientists could edit out the genetic pathways that allow
Citrus Greening to attack. I have less problems with CRISPR than the older GMOs
we associate with Monsanto. Yet, the issues of ownership and profit sharing,
and the lack of systems to prevent unethical uses of CRSIPR persist and reveal
the risks. For example, a
rogue Chinese scientist recently edited live human embryos. He’s been sanctioned, but
the genie is out of the bottle.

The Civil Eats piece highlights one alternative approach to
combatting the disease. Tents are placed over trees to super heat them and kill
the bacteria. This is more expensive and logistically challenging for growers
than spraying oxytetracycline, so most will likely want to spray rather than
tent. But the real issue here is monoculture.

Whether toxic pesticides, antibiotics,
CRISPR or tents, none will work forever. Scientists must constantly change pesticides,
antibiotics and flu vaccines to keep up with bug and bacterial evolution. So, we
must embrace the race to stay ahead and end the search for silver bullets. We need
an agricultural research agenda that is holistic, seeking to enhance a plant’s or
animal’s natural immune response, to build healthy soil as well as maximize the
populations of beneficial animals, insects, fungi and bacteria on any farm or
ranch. This is the best path to eliminate the need for antibiotics and toxic
chemicals in our food and agriculture.

To hear more thoughts on food and farming, please subscribe to this podcast. And don’t miss two related upcoming episodes of Flipping the Table. On March 12th, I will talk with Dr. Howard-Yana Shapiro of Mars Inc. about his work to save the orphan crops of Africa using the latest gene technologies and ownership protocols that in my view are ethical. On March 26th, I talk with grape grower and former CEO of Fetzer Vineyards, Paul Dolan, about why regenerative agriculture is better for us all. I hope you’ll join us. Thanks for listening to these 4 minutes on food and farming.

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Roots of Change brings a diverse range of Californians to the table to build a common interest in food and farming so that every aspect of our food - from the time it’s grown to the time it’s eaten - can be healthy, safe, profitable, affordable and fair.

Since its inception in 1964, PHI has overseen an impressive array of projects ranging from individual grants to large, multi-year, multi-site programs with national and international impact.